10 Facts about Apollo 11

Neil Armstrong works at the LM in the only photo taken of him on the moon from the surface.

1. Moon landing

Apollo 11 was the first space flight to land humans on the moon.

2. Crew

The crew of the Apollo 11 consisted of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon, followed by Buzz Aldrin. Michael Collins remained in the spacecraft and piloted it while the other two were on the surface.

3. The Apollo 11 was an American spacecraft

The United States and the Soviet Union were competing to reach the moon first. When they realized they couldn’t yet send humans to the moon, the Soviet Union attempted to send an unmanned probe, Luna 15, to bring back lunar material- rocks from the moon. However, Apollo 11, the American spacecraft, landed first. Luna 15 malfunctioned and never retrieved any lunar material, meaning the United States won the race to the moon.

4. 11 out of 17

The Apollo 11 was the 11th Apollo mission out of 17. The goal of the Apollo line of missions was to land humans safely on the moon and return them to Earth. Apollo 11 was the first to accomplish this goal. Apollo’s 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 also achieved this goal.

5. Timeline

The Apollo 11 launched July 16th, 1969 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. . It landed on the moon on July 20th, 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon on July 21st, 1969. It returned to Earth on July 24th, 1969.

6. Parts

Apollo 11 had three main parts: the command module, the service module, and the lunar module. Only the lunar module was taken to the moon. The command module was the only one to return to earth. The support module was to support the command module with power, water, and oxygen.

7. Television Broadcast

Neil Armstrong was broadcast on live television when stepping onto the moon. This is when he uttered the famous line ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’ Armstrong claims he said ‘One small step for A man’ however, the a wasn’t heard most likely due to static.

8. What was left?

Several things were left on the surface of the moon. One of the most famous is the American flag, symbolizing the United States winning the space race and reaching the moon first. Another famous thing on the moon is the foot prints. Because of the atmosphere, the foot prints do not get erased. You can still see the foot prints from the Apollo 11 mission. The crew also left scientific instruments to help collect data, an Apollo 1 mission patch to remember those lost in the failed mission, a plaque, and a memorial bag containing a gold replica of an olive branch, the traditional symbol of peace. The plaque was signed by President Nixon and the astronauts and read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”

9. Lunar Material

Armstrong and Aldrin collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material from the surface of the moon and returned it to earth. This has allowed us to study the surface of the moon and discover what it is made of and has expanded out knowledge of the moon in general

10. Return to Earth

The Apollo 11 landed back on Earth in the Pacific Ocean. The crew was then quarantined for 21 days. This was because at that time, we were unsure if any life was present on the moon. We wanted to make sure they were safe to reenter the general population before they were allowed to go out. Who knows what they could have been carrying!